The United States Court of International Trade declared Donald Trump's actions of using tariffs to regulate trade unconstitutional. The decision states that the head of state exceeded his authority, as trade regulation through tariffs should be handled by Congress, not the president.
The court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which Trump cited to justify the imposition of tariffs, does not grant him such powers. According to the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the right to set tariffs. «The orders on global and reciprocal tariffs exceed any powers granted to the president ... for regulating imports through tariffs», — the court's decision states.
«We filed this case because the Constitution does not grant any president unlimited power to undermine the economy. This decision confirms that our laws matter and that trade decisions cannot be made at the whim of the president», — said Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who, along with 11 other attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against Trump's tariffs.
The judges rejected the government's argument that Trump had the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs under a law aimed at financial operations during national emergencies. Trump called the U.S. trade deficit and drug trade at the U.S. border national emergencies that allowed him to apply the law.
The president's orders were declared «invalid as contrary to law». Specifically, this refers to the 25% tariffs he imposed on goods from Canada and Mexico, 20% on Chinese imports, and 10% tariffs on imports from all U.S. trading partners, justified by the need to reduce the trade deficit. The court also overturned «reciprocal» tariffs ranging from 20% to 50% on products from 60 countries, which were to take effect on July 9 if foreign governments could not reach an agreement with the White House by then.
The Trump administration was given 10 days to «comply» with the order. However, no specific instructions were provided regarding the steps it should take to repeal the tariffs.
U.S. stock index futures surged following the court's decision, with Nasdaq 100 index contracts rising by 2.1%, writes Bloomberg. The dollar also strengthened.
Within minutes of the decision being announced, the Trump administration filed an appeal.